


Watching Steve Rogers

by ashes0909



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A. Lot. Of. Watching., Aligns with Avengers, Getting Together, M/M, Non-Consensual Voyeurism, Post-Avengers (2012), consensual voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 12:32:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14164935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashes0909/pseuds/ashes0909
Summary: Written by: ashes0909 and Joss Whedon for the MCU Tribute - 10 Movies and 10 Years EventThat night, Tony sat awake until dawn rose outside his penthouse window, and it was the first time he watched Steve Rogers.





	Watching Steve Rogers

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much FestiveFerret for the magnificent betaing. I <3 you.

Everything changed when Agent arrived with his folders. They were full of superpowered misfits and a false-promise of greatness.

_“Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy.”_

His most important achievement to date, and then Agent walked through the elevator doors and it was all brought to a crashing halt.

Because there was something bigger than him. A problem that needed to be solved, that needed his input to find its resolution.

_“The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify.”_

_“This isn't about personality profiles anymore._ ”

Something had happened. SHIELD needed everyone.

He let his mouth ramble to Pepper and Agent while he focused on their images, the other members of the would-be Avengers. Two SHIELD spies, a hulk, a man out of time, and a demigod. Together, they were meant to become something great.

That night, Tony sat awake until dawn rose outside his penthouse window, and it was the first time he watched Steve Rogers.

SHIELD had cameras in the common areas of their headquarters, and Tony had commandeered them. The man sat in the cafeteria and read his way through breakfast, alone. His hand gripped the book too hard, denting the cover.

Tony wasn’t surprised when he sought Steve out again the next day - because he needed to learn about his teammate; because Steve was meant to lead them; because there was something about the hint of sadness in his eyes; because he wore his shirts too tight; because, because, because... - Tony found him boxing at a gymnasium.

~*~

Tony remembered stitching together the reinforced fabric that Captain America now pounded his fists against with fevered determination. The angle let him admire the man from behind, and it was easy to see that something was plaguing him (which was more important than how his ass looked in those pants, Tony told himself, again.)

He watched Steve on his StarkPad through the camera he’d hacked at the Brooklyn Gymnasium. Tony wasn't surprised when Fury approached Steve Rogers, much like Agent had approached him.

The Captain looked like he needed a distraction, something to help quiet the demons and nightmares. Tony knew a bit about what that was like.

_“I slept for seventy years, sir. I think I've had my fill.”_

Fury knew how to appeal to his target, he slid Steve the mission like he was meant to be their salvation, just like Agent had handed it to Pepper as if Tony was their only hope.

_“Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think, the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs.”_

Howard.

Tony looked out at the skyline and tried to imagine the 1940s, what his father must’ve looked like, how he’d probably showed the utmost interest around the Captain. His father would’ve shown off, would’ve wanted to make an impression.

And maybe he did, but that was seventy years ago. Today, Howard was remembered as the man that couldn’t leave well enough alone. He wished there was a way to start fresh, a clean slate with the Captain. But that wasn’t how the world worked. He’d met Steve once, shortly after he unfroze, and he was 100% sure the only thing Steve remembered about him was his name.

Not that Tony could blame him, the word ‘disorientated’ hardly covered what Steve Rogers was going through, waking up in the 21st Century.

He’d made an impression on Tony though, human perfection tended to do that to a man, but still, the fact remained, a Stark fished the tesseract out of the ocean, and the way Tony saw it, a Stark was responsible for recovering it.

He assumed Steve would agree.

Tony watched as the Captain walked out of the gym with the file in hand.

~*~

Alone in the workshop, Tony watched Captain America stare at a StarkPad. On its screen was the Hulk destroying the army at Culver University. Cap watched and watched, and Tony expected his diligence, he'd heard of his legendary work ethic, but damn was it boring for Tony to watch.

_“We're about forty minutes out from base, sir.”_

There Agent went, making a sap of himself, calling Captain America ‘the world’s first superhero’ and blushing while he admitted, ‘I watched you while you were sleeping.’ God, it was hard to watch someone fanboy so much. Tony was seconds away from buying Agent some incredibly embarrassing merchandise, like a life-size Captain America pillow, and shipping it to his SHIELD office just for making him sit through this song and dance.

Not that anyone knew he was watching.

See, the thing was that once Tony realized how easy it was to watch, he couldn’t stop. This was only his third time, but he knew an obsession when he felt it. And like most of his fixations, Tony had no desire or intent to curtail it. This was Captain America, his childhood hero and the leader of the Avengers, a team he was supposed to join. Observing Steve was in his best interest. It was only logical.

So, so, many excuses he could give, but only one fact remained: Tony liked to watch.

Steve stood up, presumably to leave behind the Agent's fangirling, but Agent was unrelenting, following him and telling him what an honor it was to meet him. Tony _never_ received this level of fawning. He wanted a refund. Or, at the very least, he had to have JARVIS send a strongly worded email.

No one had told Tony that it was an honor to have _him_ on board. His eye-roll at Agent’s antics was almost painful.

_“Well, I hope I'm the man for the job.”_

Tony probably would not have replied like that, but that’s neither here nor there.

_“We've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input.”_

“Are you kidding me?” Tony snorted into the dark. “I still have the workstation where I made that damn suit set up, Agent, and there you are taking the credit. _I_ told _you,_ ‘With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned…’ That was _my_ line.”

Now, Steve looked pensive, and it was all because of Agent and not because of Tony. It made Tony's jaw clench and he had to resist the urge to hack into the audio and set the record straight.

Tony looked at Steve’s face, the furrow in his brow as he considered Agent’s words ( _Tony’s_ words), the way he pressed his lips together, the breadth of shoulders, the strength of him, the determination in his eyes. Tony wanted to see it all, so he bit his tongue and kept the audio off.

~*~

Tony had seen Captain America angry, he’d seen him thoughtful, and bearing the brunt of fanboying, but he hadn’t seen him awed until Steve walked by the surveillance camera on the outdoor deck of the helicarrier. He seemed at home among the fighter jets, and Tony preened from his bed, stretching from his nap and letting the blanket caress his legs as Natalie told Steve about Agent’s Captain America trading card collection.

“Trading card collection.” Tony laughed. “What a nerd.”

“Good afternoon, sir. It’s 6:38 in the afternoon. It is currently 68°, and may I remind you, you have three copies of the Steve Roger’s trading card collection, all of them mint condition.”

“It isn’t my fault my father was a fan.”

“Of course, sir. One must have been purchased for him, posthumously, my apologies.”

Tony glared at his own AI until Captain America started to make heart eyes as he surveyed the jets and tech. Most of it was created through SI contracts and consultation, if Tony did say so himself.

Bruce seemed just as impressed, and Tony wondered why he didn’t spy on his tech more often; seeing people react to it might be one of this top five favorite things.

_“Must be strange for you, all of this.”_

Banner so easily brought up the fact that Captain America was 70 years out of time, and Tony wished he could control the camera, turn it so he could see Steve's expression as they walked.

_“This is actually kind of familiar.”_

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Tony told the empty bedroom.

_“Gentlemen, you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe.”_

This was why he watched. Yes, he needed to see if this group of superpowered misfits could work together, but getting to perv on Captain America being more adorable than a trending puppy video was most certainly a perk.

_“Is this is a submarine?”_

Oh Cap, you have no idea.

Then the whole ship started to move. Tony knew what was going to happen next, so did Natalie - Natasha - because she was a sneaky spy who seemed to know everything, but Bruce and Steve looked utterly amazed.

“See that, J?”

“If you’d like me to.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “I knew it was a good idea to leverage out that cloaking tech for a few SHIELD IOUs. Look at his face, J, Captain Awe-merica, am I right?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Continue surveillance into the bridge.”

A beat of silence. “Sir, if I may--?”

“J, do it. I’m already this far down the rabbit hole.”

Steve walked around the bridge of the ship, a flurry of activity as dozens of agents worked to bring the helicarrier into the air. Even Tony had to admit that seeing the helicarrier lift into the sky then become completely camouflaged was a sight to behold, and Tony had seen many sights. He knew Steve had as well. But there he was, walking forward to Fury with a ten dollar bill in his hand, making due on their bet that Steve wouldn’t be “wowed” again. Tony beamed from bed because here Steve was again, being impressed by technology he helped create and advance, again.

Tony thought about his workshop, the array of projects, some almost done and others barely started. A knot in his chest formed, one he thought would only go away when he finally had the opportunity to bring Steve to see his creations.

He knew beyond a doubt that Steve would be awed, and Tony wanted more than anything to see that wide-eyed expression in person.

Tony always liked to show off, and here was Captain America, enthralled.

And soon they’d be teammates, and Tony would get the chance to do just that. “J,” Tony began even before the idea fully formed in his mind, “the unoccupied floors under the penthouse, pull up the blueprints…”

~*~

Hours passed. Tony had left the workshop for the kitchen once his stomach started to rumble so loud that even he couldn’t ignore it. He was trying to figure out the equations for his quinjet advancements, when he received an alert that Steve had entered an area of the helicarrier that Tony had under surveillance.

They were waiting for the facial recognition to capture Loki’s location, and from his kitchen, Tony admired the long length of Steve Rogers as he braced his hands against the railings. It wasn’t until Agent slid in next to the Captain, that Tony realized he’d been staring. He was tired, more tired than he’d realized. It was late, almost one in the morning in New York, but Tony knew that if he wasn’t watching Steve right now he’d be tossing and turning, his hands itching for his StarkPad. So, he watched.

Agent showed up with his deck of cards, and suddenly, it was like watching a nighttime sitcom.

_“It’s a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint.”_

Tony admired Steve Rogers, sure, but he would be able to keep his inner fanboy under control. The secondhand embarrassment he was getting from this scene was worthy of Hollywood.

_“We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match. Weight, crossmatch, seventy-nine percent.”_

The cool tile pressed against his bare feet as Tony headed for the door, adrenaline rushing away his earlier weariness. They’d found him, and Tony was ready. “JARVIS--”

“On it, sir.” The first piece of the Iron Man suit snapped to place against his forearm.

_“Location?”_

_“Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding.”_

“What’s the ETA?”

“You should arrive one hour and seventeen minutes.”

 _“Captain, you’re up_.”

“See you there, Cap,” Tony told the screen. “Not going to let you get all the glory alone.”

“Valiant effort, sir. A true philanthropist.”

“You know it, J.”

He lifted into the air and shot off the balcony and into the New York air.

~*~

_“There are no men like me.”_

“Looks like we’ve got another egomaniac to deal with.” Tony rolled his eyes inside the Iron Man suit. “I thought Hammer was enough.”

_“There are always men like you.”_

“At least Germany is ready to fight back, but really, where are Captain America and the super-spies?” He managed to get the CCTV footage of the street on the Iron Man HUD. Everyone looked terrified, except for one, brave, elderly man. Loki was trying to make an example out of them, and Tony wished he could go faster.

And then Steve appeared, sliding in at the last moment possible to deflect an energy beam off of his shield. Tony _whooped,_ the sound reverberating inside his helmet.

_“You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.”_

And hell, Tony wanted to be there, their first battle together now that the Initiative went live. He was so close. He just needed a little more time.

 _“The soldier. A man out of time_ . _”_

_“I'm not the one who's out of time.”_

With perfect synchronicity, the quinjet arrived as Steve’s backup, with Natasha ready at the helm. So maybe Tony was there already, in a way. It was his machine gun pointing at Loki over the Captain’s shoulder. The quinjet dodged a blast, and Steve took the opening to slam him with his shield. Loki swatted it away and was working to get the upper hand. Tony was so close now, the Atlantic behind him, and he could see right where he’d hit Loki, if he was just _closer_.

Then, finally, he was within range. “JARVIS, PA system override. Let AC/DC blare.” There was always time to make an entrance. “Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?”

It only took one hit of his repulsor against Loki’s chest for him to smash right back into the ground, and when Tony stood up from his superhero landing, he knew Captain America’s eyes were glued to him because he still had the CCTV footage rolling.

Steve took a deep breath before he walked to Tony’s side, as if he was preparing himself for the moment.

“Mr. Stark.”

Such formality. He answered it with a nod of his own while they watched Loki surrender.

“Captain.”

~*~

Tony watched Captain America. In person. As they stood across from each other in the quinjet.

Steve's brow was tense, and though they both kept throwing suspicious glances at Loki, Steve’s seemed heated with a undercurrent of anger that Tony hadn’t expected. He thought the man would have had tightfisted composure, but he must not have liked the few successful hits Loki had landed.

“I don’t like it.”

“What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?”

He’d almost beaten Captain America into the concrete, but as soon as the quinjet, then Iron Man, showed up he put his hands up in defeat. It was unusual. They bickered back and forth a bit about Loki packing a punch and Tony stating how spry he was for his age. Probably not the right thing to say with the Captain already on edge. Steve was obviously frustrated, and it seemed enough for him to attach that frustration onto Tony.

“Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in,” Steve said through gritted teeth. Tony had to suppress his snort. Because Fury did not call him in. Fury had no idea he’d been hacking into surveillance cameras to track his teammates--Well, mostly Steve, but he’d caught other teammates on the camera when they hung out with Steve.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you.”

Thunder and lightning boomed and crashed outside the plane, and at some point the turbulence had jostled Steve and Tony so they stood closer than they needed to. He could see the strain at the corner of Steve’s eyes, how his fists were clenched. “What’s the matter?” Steve asked Loki, voice hard. “Scared of a little lightning?” Though it looked like Steve was the most uncomfortable of them all, which made sense since he, unlike any of the others, had recently experienced a plane crash.

“I’m not overly fond of what follows,” Loki replied, because that was logical. Tony was about to ask him if he was afraid of the rain when the plane was struck, hard. Tony ran for his helmet as the bay door of the plane was pulled open, and in walked a muscle man with long flowing Fabio hair. He walked straight towards Loki and then the newcomer was grabbing Loki by the throat and flying out into the night.

“Think the guy’s friendly?”

Tony rolled his eyes even though there was no way the Captain would see him.

“Doesn’t matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract’s lost.” They needed to go after him, needed to move and _now._

“Stark, we need a plan of attack!” Steve wanted to talk, pow-wow around a map and decide strategy, but they didn’t have time for that now.

“I have a plan. Attack!” Then he jumped out of the jet and chased after the Fabio Villainnapper. He knew the Captain would follow.

“JARVIS, quinjet surveillance.” If his AI could sigh, he would’ve. “Now.”

_“These guys come from legends, they’re basically gods.”_

Natasha seemed to have no concerns about _Tony_ following after Loki, just Steve. Did that mean she didn’t care or that she thought of him as a god? He smirked, and had JARVIS set a reminder to ask her the next time she looked peeved at him.

_“There’s only one God, ma’am. And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.”_

Tony did not suppress his snort that time, even if only JARVIS could hear him. What a sanctimonious National Icon. “See you on the ground, Cap.”

~*~

It didn't take long to find the two men as they fought fist to fist to hammer, summarily bringing down half the forest with them. Each hit created a blast of color followed by the _timber!_ of a falling tree. The two were fighting about something that ran far deeper than the search for the tesseract, but that was all Tony cared about, and that was what was important to him in this moment so he flew full speed into Fabio.

All Tony wanted was the cube, and that was what he told the man.

For some reason, that warranted a powerful as all hell hammer being lodged into his back.

Where was Steve? The camera feed in the quinjet told Tony he wasn’t on the plane any more and the more lighting that hit him, the more he thought that maybe he’d need backup. If only he could get a handle on that hammer then maybe--

“Hey! That’s enough!” Finally! His wingman. Literally. He had wings on his helmet and everything, and…. maybe he’d been hit a bit too hard in his head. He should probably have warned Steve about that hammer, ( _“Um, yeah, no! Bad call! He loves his hammer!”_ ) and oh look, it reverberated against the shield nicely. Tony flew through the forest, hitting a tree as the energy wave from the hammer hitting Steve’s shield took out a whole crop circle of northern forest.

“Are we done here?” Captain America asked with authority dripping from his tone. Tony certainly was, he stood unsteady on his feet and waited for SHIELD.

~*~

They were all watching as SHIELD agents escorted Loki through the Helicarrier. Tony was in the hallway, on his way to the conference room where they were all meeting to discuss the menace and his dangerous cube, but he’d stopped in the hallway to watch his StarkPad. He had multiple camera feeds open--Loki’s hallway, the glass cage he’d eventually be led to, the bridge-- but he was mostly focused on the hacking-implant he’d coded, at least until Loki smirked at Dr. Banner.

Tony was tired, even his infamous stamina took a hit in the face of Selvig’s Extraction Theory papers. He’d been up late, reading then coding, and it weighed on him. But the way Loki was intentionally goading Dr. Banner was enough to jolt his brain.

He knew Steve was reading into Loki’s behavior too, could see it clear as day in the crease of his brow from the bridge surveillance camera. Tony knew they’d been playing into Loki’s plan, but he hadn’t expected him to go after Dr. Banner first, when his own brother was in the room.

It meant he knew who Dr. Banner was, or could become. And that meant he’d worked it into his strategy already. Was Steve putting together all these pieces too? It looked like he was, in his damn red, white, and blue bodysuit of a uniform. The one Tony had labored over, his mind reminded then promptly provided him with the memory of sewing along the inseam. It wasn’t until Fury put Loki into the cage that Tony pulled his attention away from Steve.

_“How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?”_

Fuck you, Reindeer Games.

Tony glared into the StarkPad, at everyone’s reaction to Loki’s words, and had to admit, the homicidal maniac wasn’t wrong. They all had the things they’d rather not face, the pasts they were running from. But none of that really mattered in the face of a self-proclaimed god with an observant eye and an agenda.

Loki and Fury went back and forth a few more times and when Fury offered Loki a magazine, Tony couldn’t suppress his snort. Steve looked like he was all business, ready to interrogate Thor and get some answers.

“What do you got there?” Agent Coulson asked as he walked up the hallway, and Tony kept the earbud in his ear but slid the Starkpad with the camera feed into his shoulder bag. He already knew about the Chitauri, so he let Thor’s words slip into the background as he smiled at Agent.

“Good to see you. You look stressed, though that's expected with the obvious going on, but you will probably need a vacation soon. Go get together with that… who was she? A violinist? Yeah, get with her soon. Hopefully it will do wonders for your age lines. ”

“Cellist,” Agent corrected without thinking, than winced. “Forget I said that. There's no one.”

“Nope.” They started walking together towards the conference room, and he wondered how much the SHIELD agent had figured out about Loki’s intentions. “Won't forget, can't forget. Will meddle instead. You should see her, plan a date.” He made the words sound natural, even as his team more or less bickered away in his ear.

“Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?” Bruce's question filtered into the hallway.

“Of course, Mr. Stark, I’ll just book a flight the next time this covert helicarrier lands.” Tony could almost hear the eyeroll, even though Agent’s face remained clear.

“I’ll fly you out there. Keep the love alive.” Tony turned towards Dr. Banner, who was standing behind Steve, who was sitting at the conference table like he was waiting for them all to join him and start this meeting officially. Tony was pretty sure that wasn’t going to happen. None of them really seemed like the conference table type.

Iridium. Banner. “It means the portal won’t collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD.” He spun his away around the bridge, making a point to call Thor “Point Break” at least once, and to direct the crew like he was an orchestra conductor, all while he rambled on, distracting everyone as he snapped the hacking-implant onto Fury’s desk, without anyone being the wiser.

He was almost disappointed, these people were supposed to be the best of the best.    

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Hill asked, skeptical as always.

“Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?”

Tony didn’t even get a chuckle out of them. Steve looked like he was annoyed but trying to hide it. Tony wasn’t surprised that when he spoke he went straight to business. “Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?”

This question launched a brainstorming session between him and Dr. Banner, and Steve seemed a little perturbed that his question wasn’t really being answered.

“Finally, someone who speaks English.” Tony grinned.

“Is that what just happened?” Okay, that sounded a bit more than ‘a little perturbed’ maybe he was full on annoyed. Tony shook Dr. Banner’s hand and tried to rewind his memories to remember when exactly he pissed Steve Rogers off. Maybe he’d have to review some of the camera feeds. That wasn't upping his behavior to another level of creepy… was it?

But they really didn’t have time for Tony to figure it all out. He and Dr. Banner had science to do. And it wasn’t like he couldn’t keep watching Steve from the workshop.

“I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his flying monkeys.” Fury finished his tirade about the cube.

“Monkeys?” Point Break looked confused. “I do not understand.”

Steve perked up in his seat at the conference table. “I do! I understood that reference.”

Well, that was unnecessarily adorable. Tony rolled his eyes to hide the hearts that would’ve floated in them otherwise. Then he remembered what he shouldn’t be forgetting so easily (probably also Steve Rogers fault), and turned to Bruce. “Shall we play, doctor?”

~*~

Science charged in the air between Tony and Dr. Banner. They were able to scan the gamma rays on the scepter for radiation and discuss bypassing mainframes with Homer clusters. When Banner kept up with his snark, volleying it back as well as Tony dealt it, he finally felt like he found a pro in the pro/con chart he was running in his head for this whole team thing.

“You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You’d love it, it’s candyland.” Tony had been wanting to offer, waiting for a chance. The fact that he'd been wanting to offer it to Steve originally seemed immaterial.

Because there was Steve across the workshop, watching him. He looked awed, and while definitely unable to participate in his exchange with Dr. Banner, he seemed eager to understand as he kept mostly out of the way. Even when Dr. Banner informed him that they’d report back results, Steve shook his head, and said he _wanted_ to stay and watch.

Tony felt alive. Giddy. He spun, eating a bag of blueberries with delight, and poking Dr. Banner with a miniature electrical prod.

“Ow!”

Tony looked at Dr. Banner closely. “Nothing?”

“Are you nuts?” Steve was suddenly across the workshop and in Tony’s face, angry. Tony didn't feel as giddy anymore. In no time at all, Steve was in full Captain mode, and that Captain was currently disciplining one of his unit. Well, if Tony had any say, that wasn’t quite how this would work.

“Is everything a joke to you?”

“Funny things are.” Tony was on fire today. That was a good one. Of course, no one laughed. Instead, Steve clenched his jaw even harder.

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny. No offense, doctor.”

How polite.

It was time to let the good Captain in on what was really going on here. “Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables.”

“You think Fury’s hiding something?”

Was that trust Tony detected in the question? For Steve to even ask, it meant he’d believe Tony’s answer. Right?

“He’s a spy. Captain, he’s  _the_ spy. His secrets have secrets.”

And now Steve was listening, really listening. Banner was backing him up too, and they were working together, brainstorming. Even when Steve called his tower a big, ugly building in the sky, it wasn’t until Tony admitted to hacking into SHIELDs files that the frowny Captain came back with a vengeance. Tony pushed past it because it was important for Steve to learn he couldn’t trust SHIELD, he probably shouldn’t trust anyone. Not even Tony, who had stayed up these past months watching the man out of time. That probably wasn't model behavior... He held out the bag of blueberries, because someone had once told him long ago, that sharing was the quickest way to form a bond. Banner had eventually grabbed a blueberry but Steve seemed untempted.

“Yet you’re confused about why they didn't want you around?” Steve said, almost spat, and _ouch_ , clearly Steve wasn’t one to break the rules, but sometimes suspicion was good strategy and he had assumed Steve would’ve thought the same. “An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome.”

“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up,” Steve countered. “This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don’t stay focused, he’ll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them.”

“Following is not really my style.” He popped another blueberry in his mouth.

“And you’re all about style, aren’t you?”

So he noticed. Tony smirked to himself, a retort already on his tongue. “Of all the people in this room, which one is A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?” Tony could have fangs too.

He had thought, when they first found Steve, when they’d settled him into modern day New York, that maybe there’d be a friendship, or at least a colleague-ship that could form between them, this man his father had once raved out. It was one of the reasons he’d started watching Steve Rogers in the first place.

But the way that he looked at Tony, cold and unwelcoming, suspicious, agitated, all because Tony could see more to the picture than Captain Spangles.

They were just staring at each other, and it must have made Dr. Banner uncomfortable because he stepped forward. “Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?”

A war of thoughts fought across Steve’s face, before Tony watched him shake it off, but not with ease. Steve was left considering...something, even as he snapped, “Just find the cube,” and stalked out.

It was a start, but Tony still felt the churning in his gut, the feeling that every interaction he had with Steve seemed to veer off course, left them crowding into each other’s space, Tony’s pulse skyrocketing with the desire to grab the man by the shoulders and shake him. It unsettled Tony and made him say outlandish things to Banner, like how he had no idea what his father saw in Steve. Because all he seemed to be was a frustrating little shit that Tony couldn’t stop thinking about.

Which was why, that night in his much-to-small helicarrier quarters, he resisted the urge to seek out Steve, to find him in his room, probably buffing his shield or making sure his bed was made with standard regulation corners.

He’d usually watch without a second thought, but tonight, he wanted to push away every thought of Steve Rogers, because even the mere mention of him set his jaw tight.

It was a fitful sleep, full of tossing and turning, but he never once reached for his StarkPad or gave into the urge to watch Steve Rogers. So he missed when the soldier snuck out of his own quarters and edged his way down to the hull of the ship. He never saw Steve use his strength to enter an off-limits zone, how he stealthily surveyed the large warehouse filled with metal crates stacked high. Or how his face shuddered with anger when he saw all the assault rifles labeled Phase 2, waiting for alien tech to fulfill SHIELD’s secret agenda. Tony never turned on his screen so he missed the way Steve looked out into the empty warehouse and stated, plain as day, “Stark was right.”

~*~

Tony's computer screen lit up with SHIELD intel. “What is Phase 2?” he asked no one in particular.

Tony always found shock to be an effective method of garnering information from someone. Steve must’ve discovered the same conclusion at some point, because he stormed through the workshop and dropped an assault rifle of a kind Tony had never seen before on the table. He looked pissed, but he definitely had everyone’s attention.

“Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons.”

Tony had planted the seeds of doubt that led to this revelation and that spark of rage in Steve’s eyes, when not directed at him, Tony could appreciate the ferocity in it. Then, of course, he had to add a bit of sass Tony. “Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow.” Tony would’ve barked out a laugh if the fight wasn’t on, if they weren’t working together to corner Fury into honesty.

Fury looked irate. “We gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean…”

So he was going to deny it, even though Tony had queued up the proof on his screen before he’d even asked the question about Phase 2.  He turned the screen towards Fury, a missle dead center. “I’m sorry, Nick. What were you lying?”

Steve’s gaze turned to Tony for a moment, a nod of recognition before he was back to yelling at Fury. Tony felt a spark of vindication, but it didn’t leave the warmth that he would’ve assumed, that he usually got when someone acknowledged that Tony was right and they were wrong. Thor and Natasha burst into the workshop and the environment tensed even more as Dr. Banner and Natasha started to bicker with a surprising amount of venom. Everything was building, Fury explained the need for the weapons, the potential alien threat, and Steve questioned SHIELD’s ability to control alien threats at all, since they’ve had a hard enough time keeping their hands on the cube. It was all the truth, but none of it was helpful. And that frustration made Tony want to lash out all the more. “Nuclear deterrent. Cause that always calms everything down.”

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark,” Fury lashed right back.

“I’m sure if he still made--” Steve surprisingly stepped up to his defense, but before Tony could realize it he was already riled up and on the defense.

“Wait! Hold on! How is this about me?”

“I’m sorry, isn’t everything?” Steve sassed, and Tony pursed his lips against a scathing retort. At least until the topic of SHIELDs watchlist came up, and Tony couldn’t help asking if Steve was listed above or below angry bees. Steve was seething, instead of laughing, and he really needed to learn how to relax.

It was like something in the room was making them turn on each other, and soon it was Banner’s turn to be the focal point. “Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?” Tony asked as he put his arm around Steve because he’d been watching, Steve could use the same advice and then some.

“You know damn well why!” Steve pushed Tony’s arm away. “Back off!”

Maybe if he got his anger out, the stick up his butt would be able to fall out. “Oh, I’m starting to want you to make me.”

They were standing so close that Tony could count the freckles on his nose. “Big man in a suit of armor,” Steve snarled. “Take that off, what are you?”

“Genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist.” He rolled the words of his tongue. Steve sneered.

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. Yeah, I’ve seen the footage.” He almost said, ‘Huh, so you’ve been watching me too,’ but Steve kept on talking, spouting vile words and lighting Tony on fire from the inside out. “The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.”

“I think I would just cut the wire.”

Steve smiled but it was scathing, and Tony had a moment of disassociation where he was able to step back and wonder: how did they get here? Neck and neck when both of them had admitted that they were curious about the other, both had wanted a team, both felt responsible for helping protect the earth from this cube.

“Always a way out… You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.”

And he crashed back into the moment like a rubber band that had been pulled too far and snapped back against his skin. Harsh, abrupt, Tony reacted. “A hero? Like you? You’re a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle.”

“Put on the suit, let’s go a few rounds.” How Tony wanted to. There was an itch under his skin, a need to crash his fist into Steve’s face. He didn’t hear whatever Thor said to fill the air, only saw the vein that popped on the side of Steve’s forehead.

They both turn to Banner when he started talking about the Hulk though, how the Doctor had gotten low and couldn’t see the end. It was enough to shake them all, really, to see in that moment what Loki’s presence had made them become, when Banner gripped the scepter, firm and sure.

“Doctor Banner…,” Steve began as if he was talking to a spooked animal, “put down the scepter.”

And then the workshop exploded with alarms, all telling Tony that he and Banner had finally located something. He knew he could get to the location faster than this helicarrier could carry half a battleground across the air, so he was already out the door.

“You’re not going alone!” Of course, because now he had a shadow. The fact that it was the same man he’d been spying on for weeks only added to the irony.

“You going to stop me?”

“Put on the suit, let’s find out.”

There he went again, ready to punch and snarl his way out of every interaction with Tony. He had so much pent up frustration, and he decided to mask it behind patriotism. Well, Tony had enough. “I’m not afraid to hit an old man.”

A muscle clicked in Steve’s jaw. “Put on the suit.”

A beat of silence and then the helicarrier tilted, and Tony was being thrown across the workshop along with everyone else. They’d been hit; which, between the SI tech and SHIELDs defenses, was _definitely_ not good. He caught Steve’s eye and saw all the earlier heat had fled from his expression, leaving only a cold, calculating strategian. “Put on the suit!”

“Yep!” Because Tony was right there with him, and they needed to work together.

~*~

Steve was an enigma. One second they were nose to nose, ready to rip each other’s necks out and the next he was, well, “It seems to run on some form of electricity.” And how was anyone supposed to find that threatening? Hell, how was he not supposed to find that adorable?

“Well, you’re not wrong,” he replied, instead. He could see Steve in the HUD, and was immediately grateful for the engine room cameras he had hacked into. The shield flew like something out of a comic Tony would've denied reading, knocking out everyone that shot a bullet his way. It was almost enough to distract Tony as he blasted broken debris off the turbine engine and waited for Steve to pull the lever that needed to be pulled. When Steve told him the relays were intact, and then asked _him_ what their next move was, long gone was the man from the workshop looking for a fight, so it was unfortunate that the next thing he had to tell him was, “Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won’t re-engage without a jump. I’m gonna have to get in there and push.”

Steve’s indignation came immediately. “If that thing gets up to speed, you’ll get shredded!” He got frustrated when Tony explained things too technically (“ _Speak English!”_ ), and Tony thought the reason he was upset was actually for the sake of Tony’s wellbeing and not because he thought Tony was a know-it-all. And wasn't that a change of pace?

“See that red lever? It’ll slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it and wait for my word.”

His life in Captain America’s hand. This was not how he saw his afternoon going.

And then the time came when Tony was ready for him to step up and pull the goddamn lever, and all Steve could say was, “I need a minute here!”

The man that was breaking punching bags, was ready to be useful, so that all his out-of-time-ness could be worth something, needed a minute. “Lever. Now!”  And then all he heard was alarms as the engine tore him up.

No matter how much he and Steve had fought, he never thought the man would let him down. But then he was getting beaten to near death by an engine. Except, before he was able to finish the thought, Cap pressed the lever. He was released. He was unsteady in the air but once he gathered his bearings he had one target in mind: the damn asshole who was still shooting at Steve.

He flew through the bowels of the helicarrier at full speed taking the man down in one full body tackle. Then he rolled on the floor, gasping for breath inside the suit, and he saw Steve on the corner of his HUD screen doing the same.

Mission Accomplished. The helicarrier would continue its flight.

~*~

“Agent Coulson is down.”

Tony didn’t have to look at Steve to know he was listening just as intently to the words Fury was saying through the comm.

To both Tony and Steve, Agent Coulson was the lifeline of SHIELD, the face on a mysterious agency that both usually suspicious men had chosen to trust. Now he was gone.  

No one argued when Fury told them to meet in the briefing room. There was a silence that fell between them all, a daze, and Tony knew he couldn’t be the only one that kept seeing Agent out of the corner of his eye. Someone had to notify his cellist. Pepper knew her; would SHIELD even think of it?

Fury tossed the Captain America trading cards on the table, and his jaw clenched around the blatant manipulation tactic.

_“There was an idea, Stark knows this, called THE AVENGERS INITIATIVE. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could  become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes.”_

The words echoed in his mind even as he walked away from them. He was angry, Coulson had been an idiot to put himself in the position to be killed. He had no powers, hardly enough technology, and if SI had just released more confidential information, collaborated with SHIELD more than maybe…

Time passed. He hadn’t been watching Steve, so of course that was when the other man sought him out, surprised him with what Tony thought was meant to be camaraderie. “Was he married?” Steve asked as they both looked over the empty cell container where Loki had once been held captive.

“No. There was a cellist. I think.” Pepper had already called to inform her, even though she had hung up with him in tears.

“He seemed like a good man.”

“He was an idiot.” It was the wrong thing to say to Steve, who was trying to console him, but it was true and it was all Tony could think about.

“Why? For believing?”

“For taking on Loki alone.” Who did Steve think he was, that he would fault him for believing? The whole reason he was here was because he believed.

“He was doing his job.”

“He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have…”

“Sometimes there isn’t a way out, Tony.” The words were said with a tone that was far too kind, that bordered on pity, and Tony was not in any mood to hear them.

“Right. How did that work out for him?” Not everyone was a supersoldier.

“Is this the first time you’ve lost a soldier?”

Tony turned, meeting Steve’s eye. “We are not soldiers! I am not marching to Fury’s fife!”

“Neither am I!” Steve shouted in return, and Tony actually believed him. Could imagine Steve by his side avenging Agent, not because it was what Fury wanted but it was what the man deserved, and he didn’t need bloody trading cards shoved in his face to come to that conclusion. Agent Coulson’s blood on the wall was enough.

“He made it personal.”

“That’s not the point.”

“That _is_ the point. That’s Loki’s point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?”

“To tear us apart.”

Ding, ding, ding, Captain. The correct answer and it still didn’t bring us any closer to Loki or avenging Coulson. “He knows he has to take us out to win, right?” Tony thought aloud. “That’s what he wants. He wants to beat us, and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience.”

Steve nodded. “Right, I caught his act in Stuttgart.”

“Yeah. That’s just a preview, this is opening night.” Tony understood Loki, probably more than Steve, because they both had a penchant for showboating. “Loki’s a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered….” He was going to go after Stark Tower. “Sonofabitch!”

~*~

“You are not authorized to be here…” The SHIELD pilot told Captain America, and Steve’s reaction might have been Tony's new favorite Cap face, not that he was keeping track. He _was_ watching the man again, that was enough.

“Son…” Steve began, stern. “Just don’t.”

“JARVIS, did you--”

“Yes, Sir,” JARVIS interrupted and answered him in one. “I do have that recorded. Need I remind you that--”

“No. Let’s fly.”

They were off towards New York. His Iron Man suit out-flew the quinjet, even his most current design, and soon he was trying to kill time, to keep Loki monologuing for as long as it took for his team to arrive. They spoke in his penthouse, and next to the Iron Man suit bracelets, he had a StarkPad keyed into the quinjet camera feed. They were still too far away. He made a mental note to add a thrust to the engine.

“The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that.” Loki looked gleeful in his triumph. “What have I to fear?”

“The Avengers.” If they would ever show up. “It’s what we call ourselves, sort of a team. ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ type of thing.”

His visual on the quinjet didn’t provide much information, just a view of its occupants looking out the cockpit.

“Yes, I’ve met them.”

“Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I’ll give you that one.” But now they were coming to New York, they were working together. And he could hold this talkative alien at bay until they arrived.

Then, Loki threw him out a window.

Luckily, the suit was there in a pinch, and he was back in front of Loki, shooting him with one very satisfactory blast of his reactor beam. His satisfaction didn’t last long, though, because that was when a hole opened up in the sky.

“Right.” The quinjet was still too far away. “Army.”

Tony lost time, all he saw was the enemy. He hit them with everything he had. The Jericho missile, endless blasts from his repulsor beams. Everything blurred into hitting his target, then the next one, then the next. When the quinjet appeared in the horizon, he didn’t have time to feel relief.

“Stark, we’re heading north east.”

“What did you stop for drive-thru? Swing up Park, I’m gonna lay ‘em out for you.” Moments later the beautiful sound of machine gun bullets flew through the air.

Back-up had arrived.

Until... the quinjet caught on fire and spun through the air. Tony could see Steve holding onto the roof of the plane, swinging in the air like a ragdoll, and he couldn't help but wonder how Steve might be feeling, in yet another jet as it slammed into the ground.

This time, everyone was on their feet and out of the jet in moments. Tony’s feed showed nothing but an empty cockpit. But then Steve's voice was in his ear. “Stark, are you seeing this?”

A leviathan flew in-between the New York skyscrapers like it was an eel swimming through stalks of seaweed.

“I’m seeing, still working on believing.” They needed backup for their backup. “Where’s Banner? Has he shown up yet?”

“Banner?”

It seemed like Steve was still figuring out who was part of their team, Tony couldn’t blame him. Not everyone was a genius. He hit one Chitauri, then another, listening as Steve organized the evacuation efforts and requested intel from Thor. “The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable.”

“Thor is right,” Tony agreed. “We gotta deal with these guys.”

Natasha’s voice was crisp and clear in his ear. “How do we do this?”

“As a team.” Captain America was rallying his troops, and Tony was more than ready to march in _his_ fife.

“I have unfinished business with Loki,” Thor informed.

“Yeah, get in line.” The anger was clear in Hawkeye’s voice.

Their Captain stepped in. “Save it.”

It wasn’t the time or place to find Steve’s stern voice attractive, but Tony wasn’t really in control of that sort of thing. Steve was still talking, something about keeping Loki’s focus, and Tony did his best to pay attention. Which was why he didn’t miss Banner’s return and Steve’s subsequent surprise.

“So, this all seems horrible,” the Doctor greeted.

Understatement.

“Banner?” Tony asked Steve.

“Just like you said.” And Tony could get used to the warmth behind those words.

“Then tell him to suit up. I’m bringing the party to you.”

Above them more and more of the aliens descended; the army Loki promised looked to be unending. They managed to bring one leviathan down, and Tony landed between Steve and Banner as the sounds of Chitauri screaming in pain filled the air. They needed to regroup. They needed a plan. Two more leviathan joined the party. “Call it, Cap.”

Steve did. He fell into his natural role as a leader, and it was glorious to stand by his side, to let him lay out their team's skills and apply them to the battle. Steve’s tone instilled confidence, he saw it focus each of them on the battle at hand. If he had to be a soldier, he would choose to only follow this man’s orders.

They worked together. Hawkeye offered Tony the advice of finding a tight corner because the Chitauri, “Couldn’t bank worth a damn,” and it proved to be immensely helpful, as more and more of the Chitauri chariots trailed behind him and burst into flames against city walls.

Tony provided Thor backup, and then, after seeing Natasha launch herself into the air using Cap’s shield (in a gorgeous maneuver that had her pulling two Chitauri off their vehicle), he swooped in to provide Steve with the support he needed, now that Nat was heading to the tower to close the portal. It had become fluid between them, in hardly no time at all, and Tony decided it was time to reenact Jonah and the Whale and fly through the nearest leviathan.

When the missile showed up, Tony knew he had to be the one to take matters into his own hands. He flew across the river and into the bay, rushing into the missile’s trajectory.

“I can close it!” Natasha shouted over the comm. “Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!”

“Do it!” Cap’s voice, his orders.

“No, wait! I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it.”

He caught up to the missile and grabbed it from behind, holding it tightly on his shoulders. With a thrust, he was able to steer it off its path, and he was flying up, up, up, before he could talk himself out of his decision.  

~*~

“Stark, you know that’s a one-way trip?”

Tony wished he could see his face. In that moment, as he flew with a bomb on his back and a hole into space in front of him, he wanted to watch Steve Rogers one last time.

But there was no time to hack into every CCTV camera within the battle range and seek him out. He held onto missile and told JARVIS to save the rest of his power for the return as an answer to Steve.

Everyone, including JARVIS knew there would be no return.

“Sir. Shall I call Miss Potts?”

He couldn’t see Steve but he didn’t have to be alone. “You might as well.” She was going to be so pissed at him. He heard Steve’s voice over and over in his head. _One-way trip._

Space was gorgeous and haunting and swarming with a Chitauri army. He let go of the missile, watched as it blew away their adversary and then he closed his eyes. _Stark, you know that's a one-way…_

There was a roar, and he jerked awake.

His eyes found Steve. He was a mess, battle-blood and dirt on his face and hair. The relief that was clear as day on his face was tinted with awe. “What the hell? What just happened?” Steve was so close, smirking at Tony and looking at him like Tony was a marvel and delight, instead of an agitation and disappointment. His heart raced. Had someone give him CPR? Had _Steve_ given him CPR? “Please tell me nobody kissed me.” He’d hate to have missed their first kiss.

“We won.” Steve looked like sunshine when he said it. Tony let out a long exhale and a weak cheer, then he proceeded to ramble on about shawarma because, why not? Team bonding. Food. Aliens vanquished. He needed to lie down. Oh, he was lying down.

“We’re not finished yet,” Thor killjoyed.

Tony was pretty sure he had a concussion. “And then shawarma after.”

~*~

All Steve could do at the shawarma restaurant was watch Tony.

Tony wasn’t sure if it was because he was concussed and the good Captain wanted to keep a vigilant eye on him, or if it was because of something else. Because the way Steve had been looking at Tony since he fell from the portal in the sky was more reminiscent of Awe-Merica than anything else.

“Tasty, huh?” he asked Steve around a mouth full of shawarma, but it really came out more like a muffled mess. Steve chuckled and nodded, and there was a fissure of hope that maybe the worst of their disagreements was behind them.

Steve was still watching Tony later that evening, when they all stood awkwardly in the upper levels of the Stark - now A - Tower. Tony had offered them each a floor, which they all balked at, so then he switched gears and told them to claim a room at the common room floor.

“You exceed generosity, Man of Iron.”

“Thanks, Thor.”

“I shall happily stay here while we prepare Loki for transport.”

So, he’d stay for the evening, Loki would be leaving in the morning. “Well, it’s an open offer.” Tony swallowed down the uncertainty and semi-successfully kept it from his voice. “That goes for all of you.” There were various nods before they all filtered away to find bedrooms, leaving only Steve hanging behind.

“Tony,” Steve began, hoisting his duffle bag worth of possessions further up his shoulder. Tony had seen him perform the motion a dozen times through the Brooklyn Gym cameras, and it drew Tony’s focus to the curve of his neck every time. It also reminded Tony how real and close Steve now was, with no screen between them. “I really appreciate--”

Tony really didn’t want to hear Steve say that his offer was too much, or all the many ways that it wouldn’t work out. Talking over him seemed like a good enough solution. “No need to thank me Steve-o. We’re a team, and I look after my people.” It had been hours, but Steve still looked at him like he had after he'd regained consciousness on the street, so Tony decided to go out on a limb, “I look after my friends.”

“I’m glad that’s what you consider me.” Steve nodded to himself, brow furrowed with thought, as if he had finally found the answer to a question he'd been struggling with. He looked back up at Tony, making their gazes meet dead-on. This was his would-not-tolerate-bullshit, Captain America face. But the corner of his mouth smirked, like the rebel he was when he dropped that Phase 2 alien rifle into the middle of a conversation. “I think we’re friends too, Tony, and that's what makes it a lot easier to know that you’re... probably spying on me as much as you did Fury. Is that right?”

Tony froze inside, his lungs stopped breathing, it felt as if his blood itself stopped flowing. On the outside he tried his hardest not to show any panic. He tried to look confused, and it was easy enough to look shocked because, well, he had never really considered what he’d do if Steve found out he’d been watching him. That was on Tony. He’d underestimated Steve.

Steve seemed….somewhat okay with it. His smirk had only deepened with amusement during Tony’s silence. Tony blurted out the first thing he could think. “You knew I’d been spying on you?”

A long, exasperated sigh, like Tony had not heard since the days of Jarvis the original, flowed from Steve’s lungs, but the hint of amusement still remained. “I had guessed. You just confirmed it.”

Oh. And Tony called himself a genius. He maybe spluttered a little, and Steve’s amusement turned into full blown laughter. It was better than yelling, but it still riled Tony up a bit.

“You’re really laughing?” Why was he testing his luck? “Shouldn’t you be furious?”

“I just can’t believe I got you to admit it so easily. I _know_ how smart you are and you still fell for it.”

Tony had never felt simultaneously flattered and embarrassed before, and he didn't know if he liked the sensation or how it made him squirm. “So you’re not furious.” Tony tried to have a conversation with the man, who was finally curtailing his laughter, taking deep breaths and composing himself.

A part of Tony, the part that wasn’t pacing inside his mind trying to figure out how to talk his way out of this, was thinking that he never really saw Steve look this happy, in all the times he had watched him. Tony now learned that the corners of his eyes crinkled when he laughed, and the blue in them would dance with actual joy. There was relief in Steve, that the battle was over, that they’d survived, and maybe it was that backdrop that made Tony’s spying seem silly to Steve. “I first suspected,” Steve began, “when you admitted so freely to spying on Fury. It seemed like maybe it was something of a routine for you.” That sounded bad, that sounded like judgement, but Steve’s words weren’t tinted with accusation, even as he continued. “I could see how someone that knew how to do what you do, for someone to have such a skill set, it may be tempting to work it into your strategy or decision making.”

Steve was...empathizing with him. It was so unexpected that Tony took a step back, let his calves hit the nearby sofa, and sat on it. “Well that’s-- Exactly. But also….” Tony swallowed. “I know it’s not the most moral thing. I get that. But like you said, we were going to be a team and…”

Crap, he shouldn’t have brought up the team.

“Are you watching the whole team?” Steve sounded curious and also a bit… disappointed? No. Tony was reading into things, he must be.

It was enough to make him answer honestly, though. “Not so much.”

“You’re right. I probably should be furious--”

“You should, but don't be--”

“But if anything, it _is_ flattering that a-- What was it? Billionaire, playboy, philanthropist?”

“ _‘Genius_ , billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.’ You forgot Genius! That’s the most important one.”

“Debatable. And I forgot genius because... Have you really been acting like one during this conversation?”

“That hurts, Captain. Wounding me in my own home.”

“I thought it was the team's home now.”

Steve was bickering with him, either that or _flirting_. Whatever it was, Tony found it delightful. “That mean you’re sticking around?”

Something shuddered across Steve’s face, and he looked toward the New York skyline, away from Tony, the humor fading from his expression. “No.”

Tony had expected the answer, but he still felt it twinge in his chest. He didn’t say anything.

“Not right away. I need to go….see. Our country has changed so much, and New York isn’t everything, isn’t everywhere. If anything, it’s harder to be where everything looks different from before, but the street signs are still the same. It’s too much.”

“I get it.”

“But New York will always be my home.”

“And you’ll have a room here, if you want it.”

Steve was still standing in the common room, bag on his shoulder. “Why don’t you show me where I can find that room?”

Tony did as Steve asked, leading him past the kitchen and down the hallway to a few bedrooms. Bruce had occupied the first room, and Tony pushed open the door to the next one. Steve stopped as he walked through the doorway, turning towards Tony, and they were close, closer than they had been when they were fighting on the helicarrier, and Tony wasn’t strong enough not to look at his lips.

Steve watched him, but he didn’t say anything about it, instead he said, “I guess this is goodnight. You’ll probably see me before I see you.” And with a wink, he shut the door on Tony’s face, not hard, but a soft click of a caress.

Was the Captain toying with him? Flirting? That didn’t make any sense, except for the spark that jumped between them every time the argued, and the way they worked well as a team, and the way Steve seemed so relieved Tony was alive that maybe he was coming to value Tony’s presence in his life.

It wasn’t a novel occurrence; he knew people valued him, he wasn’t _that_ insecure anymore. Pepper loved him and Rhodey would have his back for life. And to list Steve among their ranks, well, it was what he’d wanted long before Agent showed up with a file full of trouble.

Tony went up to the penthouse and tried to ignore how empty it felt, knowing the whole team was downstairs. His bedroom was how he had left it before flying to Germany. The StarkPad he had linked to CCTV footage was sitting in the middle of his bed. He didn’t need it now. For one, Steve was on the Tower’s feed - a thought that shouldn’t warm him from the inside out but did - and two, he had no intention of watching Steve tonight. His limited self-preservation skills were strong enough to know it’d be too painful. Steve was leaving in the morning.

~*~

It was a sunny day, and Loki had just been taken away. Everything seemed light and joyous, the mood matching the musician with a keyboard and a bucket for tips set up at the other end of the fountain. Central Park was the heart of New York in so many ways, and Tony wondered if that would make it easier or harder for Steve to leave it behind.

Bruce would be coming back with Tony, the only one moving into the Tower that day, and the rest of them would scatter. They had all agreed to call the Tower the Avengers’ homebase, and it felt like they were actively solidifying something the Chitauri battle had started.

Steve was watching him, waiting by the bike to say goodbye and it was almost unfair how gorgeous he looked in his khakis. No one should look gorgeous in khakis, but Steve did. The way he could look shy from a single smile, the way he aimed that smile at Tony, it made Tony feel like he’d made the right decision: The StarkPad burned a hole in his bag as he prepared to give it to Steve. It was sunny but he left his sunglasses off, wanting Steve to see him. “I have a bon voyage gift.”

“What?” Surprise and joy flickered across Steve’s face, it settled into appreciation. “You didn’t have to do that, Tony.”

“I know.” He handed Steve over the whole messenger bag; it was far easier than pulling the StarkPad out and into the open between them. Steve pulled it out anyway. He looked back at Tony, confused. “I already have a StarkPad. You were the one that gave me it.”

Tony shook his head. “This one's special."

“Why?” The sun brightened the blue of his eyes. “Is it faster? More secure?”

“All my StarkPads are fast, and secure. But this one is--” Tony bit his lip and took a deep breath. Steve might think this was weird, but it made sense to Tony, so maybe...”It’s hacked.”

“Oh. Like yours.”

“Yeah,” Tony replied, then wobbled his head as if that was an answer. It wasn’t, so he continued, “Well, with a few modifications. This one has a feed connected to the penthouse, actually all of the Tower. Including my workshop. The team has been informed that there’s surveillance cameras in the common areas. They just... maybe don’t know that now you have access to them. And also--” Steve’s lips had parted, he licked them. It was like he was nervous and excited all in one, but also...reluctant. “You don’t need to ever turn the StarkPad on, but if you want you have access to the penthouse, and the workshop.”

“Why?” he asked the same not-simple question as earlier, but this time, he sounded nearly breathless.

“I thought maybe you’d want to watch me too.”

Steve looked at the messenger bag like it was a puzzle, or maybe Tony was one. “Would you know when I was…you know.”

“Watching?”

“Yeah.”

“If you wanted me to know. All you have to do is text me. Or press the mic button on and plug in your headphones and start talking. It’s equipped for voice and vid chat too.”

Steve was sliding the messenger bag on his shoulder, accepting Tony’s present even though questions lingered on his face. It was obvious he was still unsure about what Tony was trying to do. “Look, we’re friends right. Now everything's even-Steven between us. Heh, Steven.”

That made Steve smile, his now familiar one full of amusement. “You know things would _also_ be even if you stopped watching me entirely.”

Tony bit his lip and looked away, towards where the rest of their team was saying their goodbyes. “We both know you’re right.” When he turned back to Steve his smile was genuine. “Do you want me to stop? I could...”

Steve looked at him long enough to make Tony slide his sunglasses back on, which caused Steve to lean over and flick at the glass lightly shaking his head. It was a playful gesture and that shocked Tony almost as much as when he said, “No, don’t stop. It’s not like I have anything to hide, and there’s a part of it that’s like… Like sharing things with someone again, it’s been a while.

“That’s exactly what it is.” Now that Steve was aware, it took on a different light. One that Tony liked way more than when it was just him alone in his dark workshop or bedroom.

“It’s like future penpals.”

“Well, it’s _current_ penpals, but yes.”

“The tech I mean. It’s just, I don’t know, I feel like there’s a lot I still have to learn about you. And this is a neat way to start.”

They shook hands while Tony poked fun of him for using the word neat. Then all that was left was to say goodbye.  “Have a good trip.”

“Have...good science?”

Tony laughed. Then, because he had no self control at all he asked. “See you soon?”

He hadn’t meant through cameras, he was asking when Steve would return to New York before he’d even left yet. Steve smirked, patting his messenger bag. “Not if I see you first.”

Tony shook Steve’s hand, and the ache grew in his chest.

~*~

In his rearview mirror, he watched Steve slide onto his motorcycle. Bruce was in the passenger seat, so Tony didn’t let his gaze linger, but he let himself appreciate the way Steve’s thighs gripped the seat as he revved up the engine and road out the city.

He was gone, and Tony did his best to put him in the back of him mind. With Bruce there were numbers and equations and redesigning the whole team’s tech, and he could probably fit in a few uniform upgrades. The sewing station from Steve’s uniform was still set up and, really, Black Widow could be completely redone, full on electric outputs. Natasha would maybe even break into a smile.

Though, that wasn’t quite fair anymore. He’d seen three, whole expressions from her, and Clint had even been less of a snarky-ass since he arrived back at the Tower with Natasha. They’d decided to stay, and Tony didn’t need expressions, he could read into their actions well enough.

So, with Thor off-planet, it was really just Steve that had left, and Tony did his best not to read into _that._

Tony stopped watching Steve. Even though Tony knew there were only a few highways that led out of the city, and Steve had mentioned going South along the coast. But--no.

His workshop had never been more alive. Bruce fit in like he’d always been there, a byproduct of working in laboratories around the world for decades. Tony was never one to begrudge the loss of space, when it provided him with an audience to show off to, or a brain to brainstorm with. There had been a lot of storms in Tony’s workshop since Steve left.

Only three days had passed, not long at all, when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was a message from Steve, a photo of him in front of the Liberty Bell. He was smiling and pointing, and even though the photo didn’t have a corresponding message, it was nice to see Steve again. He gripped his phone and had to stop himself from doing something stupid, like swipe Steve’s cheek through the screen.

He could find him and watch him. Steve hadn’t told him to stop. It would be so easy, and Tony missed him, he missed his presence, how every time they verbally sparred they got a little bit closer.

That was when he saw it. In the photo, Steve was pointing, but the angle was wrong, it wasn’t aimed at the Liberty Bell but almost behind him where another tourist stood. The tourist was facing away from the camera, just a backpack in between Steve and the bell. An Iron Man backpack.

Steve looked so happy.

Tony’s heart was racing and he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

_Look’s like I’m going on vacation with you, Cap._

_Look’s like! You’re everywhere! We all are! Do you have a share in merchandising because._

_:  - O   (← Emoji?)_

He let out a deep breath and was so, so glad Bruce was upstairs making dinner, because that breath was definitely shaky. _Avengers does, which means we all do. The income helps us stay as autonomous as possible. And, you were close, with the emoji. Try the smiley button at the edge of the keyboard. You’ll see all kinds of emojis._

He should’ve expected the string of emojis, he didn’t know why he was surprised. To think this was once the man that sneered down his nose at him. It took them awhile, but here they were, sending nonsensical emojis back and forth for longer than either of them would care to admit. Eventually the conversation faded, and there was radio silence from Steve again.

Tony wondered if Steve thought he was watching, and that thought was one of the few times he was compelled to go back to the StarkPad. But he still stopped himself. His stomach churned at the thought of watching, when historically he could self-sabotage with ease.

It was enough to keep Tony away, even as days became a week. At that point, Tony figured Steve wasn’t going to keep in touch. Which was fine. He hadn’t spoken with Rhodey in over a week, and that was fine. Things were fine.

~*~

He was in the sauna when Steve finally contacted him again. This time it was a video call, and not a text, and he briefly considered not picking up, but if Steve was going to be uncomfortable with a little semi-nudity than he was going to have to call more often. Tony wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity just because he was shirtless in the sauna.

“Steve!”

“Tony, hi!” He was outside somewhere very sunny. Despite his baseball cap and sunglasses, Tony could still see the sunburn on his cheeks.

“Where are you?”

“Miami!” He held the phone back a bit, so that Steve could see his crew neck t-shirt and bathing suit shorts. Behind him was coral. A lot of coral.

“Steve are you standing in front an extremely large couch made out of... coral?”

“Yes.”

“Are you by the ocean?”

“I am miles, and miles, and miles away from the ocean.”

Steve panned the camera as he turned. Despite the look of utter bafflement on his face, he looked good. Sunburned, yes, but lighter. The road trip, and all its coral wonderments, whether it was a way to connect to the present or nothing more than a distraction for Steve, it was helping. “You look great, Cap,” he said, because he never had a filter when it came to complimenting beautiful people. “You attach a gym to your motorcycle?”

The smile Steve gave in return was stunning. “I’ve taken up surfing!”

“Surfing? In Miami?”

“All along the coast.” He was walking, Tony caught a glimpse of his shoulder and the sky, as he pressed the phone against his chest to walk through a cramped coral hallway. “It’s only been a week, but I think I’ve gotten pretty good.” Steve ducked his head, and Tony couldn’t tell if his cheeks were red from just the sunburn, or if Steve was blushing.

“I’m sure you have, Cap.”

On screen - so many screens before now, but this one was infinitely different - Steve bit his lip and looked excited. “Wait one second, while this family takes a photo in front of it, but boy do I have something to show you.” Then, as if he finally remembered social niceties he shook his head and asked. “Sorry, you weren’t busy were you? I didn’t interrupt you in the middle of some incredibly dangerous testing, did I?”

“If I was in the middle of some ‘incredibly dangerous testing’, I would have had to reluctantly send you to voicemail. Instead, you caught me in the sauna.”

Steve’s jaw snapped shut. Until then, Tony had kept the camera framing his face, but now he pulled his arm away from his body. He could see in the small square that showed his side of the conversation, that his camera was filled with his bare torso. “Tony! Are you naked?” He brought the phone close to his mouth, giving Tony an up close view of his lips before complete darkness. “There are children here.”

“Relax,” Tony drew out the word. “I’m in a towel, more covered than the people they’d see at the beach. I’m entirely decent. Just very, very sweaty.” Steve looked dubious, and Tony couldn’t resist nudging him about it. “Unless...am I making you uncomfortable?”

Steve’s eyes narrowed, and in his mind Tony cheered at the challenge he had struck in Steve. “Not uncomfortable at all. Just wanted to make sure you weren’t scarring the young minds of tomorrow.”

“It’d be like seeing a marble statue in a museum.” To be an ass, Tony kept the phone far from him, so that Steve could see right down to his towel. Steve had to have noticed. Both of their voices had dropped into quieter whispers.

“You flatter yourself.”

Tony lifted an eyebrow. “I absolutely do not. Even you have to admit these abs would impress Michelangelo.”

“One word.” Tony knew it was going to be a zinger from the way Steve crinkled his mouth. “Thor.”

Tony gasped, brought his hand to the arc reactor and pretended to be wounded. Steve’s eyes followed, and stayed on the arc reactor for a moment, then floated all over his chest, his hips, and when he met Tony’s gaze again, his expression had darkened with want. “I was going to show you something.”

“Yes, you were.” He wanted Steve looking at him like this but to have him _here_ while he was doing it. “Because you’re nice like that.”

“Because I thought you’d like it,” Steve corrected.

The seriousness of Steve’s tone took Tony by surprise. “I like that reason even better.”

“Good.” Steve turned himself and the camera. “Now look!” It was a huge chunk of coral, it must have weighed a ton, carved and shaved into the planet Saturn. “This gentleman named Edward Leedskalnin found this coral, presumably in the ocean, dragged it all the way here and carved it into something that belongs in _space_. And it’s just been sitting here, since the 1920s!”

“Wow. That’s….weird? Incredible? I can’t quite find the word…”

“Me either. This is one eclectic country.”

They were both shaking their heads. “That it is,” Tony agreed. “It looks huge. Take a picture next to it and send it to me after we hang up.”

The request must’ve surprised Steve, it made his smile turn shy. “Okay. Sure.” Steve licked his lips. Tony let his hand drag along his bare shoulder. “I-- I should go now. But, picture. I’ll send you! And yeah. Bye. I’m glad you picked up. And-- Thanks. I, um, I miss you and--”

Tony was ready to let Steve continue rambling because it was adorable, but, well... “I miss you too. You know you’re welcome here--”

“I know. I like being on the road. But… I don’t want to be on the road forever.”

“Good, I never much liked Kerouac.”

Steve chuckled and mumbled something about understanding references. “I’m glad you picked up,” he said again. “This place is wild.”

“Anytime, Cap.”

The sauna seemed extra quiet after they hung up.

Another week passed and the team - minus Steve and Thor - settled into the Tower. There were fewer moving boxes in the hallways and more dishes left on the coffee table. He received the occasional text from Steve but no more phone calls, and it was fine.

~*~

Usually, when Steve texted, it was a steady string of messages, excited or surprised or disturbed, depending on the events going on around him. So Tony was surprised when one night while he was in his workshop, he felt his phone buzz just once.

It was a message from Steve, a single, simple word. _Smile_.

Tony was on camera. He knew he was because he had set up the cameras, had linked them up to the StarkPad that was presumably in Steve’s hands somewhere in America. Tony froze, of course he froze, he was on high alert because Steve was watching him-- How long had he been watching? Had he seen that twirl Tony had done to the music earlier?

But this was Steve, moral and respectful, he’d never snoop on Tony, not like Tony did for months to Steve.

_I hope this is okay._

He chuckled at his phone, let the camera see it. “I was the one who set it up,” he told the empty room.

_Well, you seemed surprised, so.._

“Just didn’t think you had it in you.” He wondered if Steve would rise to his lighthearted bait, if they would bicker like they had in the helicarrier and last night in his dreams. He missed the sparks that had flown between them. Wondered if they would fade now, or if they were ingrained in their relationship.

_I can do this all day._

“Oh yeah? You wanna go?” He knew his words were ridiculous but they also made sense in a way. The phone buzzed in his hand right away.

 _Put on the suit. Let’s go a few rounds_.

“Does that mean you’re coming back?” Tony asked through a smirk.

It took longer for the reply to come this time. Tony didn’t let it show, because he didn’t want Steve to see.

_Not yet. I’m in Virginia Beach. You know they still make taffy on the boardwalk year round?_

“I did. I used to have Happy bring it to me sometimes when he drove through.”

_Didn’t take you for a taffy guy._

“Ah, well. Lots you don’t know about me.”

_I also saw the plaque they hung after your sizable donation to the pier’s recovery effort._

“I do need to put the ‘thropist’ in philanthropist sometimes. Is that why I’m owed the pleasure of this digital stalking?”

Another long break before Steve’s reply appeared. _Why did you watch me? I’m alone in a motel off the I-95. And I thought I’d see what America’s best genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist was up to. Apparently, he was sitting in a chair staring into space._

“I’m thinking!”

_It makes for riveting television. Was I this…. boring?_

“Yes!” No. But then again, he didn’t really think Steve was actually bored. “You were...you. You punched things, and read books, and nodded at people politely as they passed you by. Watching you didn’t teach me any more more about you than your location and what you were doing there.”

 _That’s a lot_.

“I guess it is. Still not enough to learn about someone. Not all the way.”

 _And that’s why you did it. To learn about me_?

Tony knew Steve was watching, but he couldn’t sit still anymore, he started pacing the workshop, moving to the music that was now too low to actually hear. “Yes.” It was easy to confess into an empty room. “I felt drawn to you.”

_Flatterer._

Tony snorted. “Sure, I’ll flatter you all day.”

There was nothing for a while, no buzzes from his phone, and Tony went back to tinkering on his project. He didn’t even sit down, he just needed something to occupy his hands. When his phone rattled against his work desk again, it caught Tony by surprise.

_What do you mean when you say things like that?_

Then, without another second, another buzz.

_You’re beautiful when you work._

“I probably mean the same thing you mean, when you say things like that. At least I think you do. I mean that...well.” He twirled the screwdriver between his fingers, tapped it against his lips, as he tried to find the right words. “I mean, that if you told me to put on the suit and roll around with you one more time, I’ll probably jump you. But I’ll be leaving bruises via hickeys instead of punches.”

_Oh._

_I think I might like that._

“Ha! Well then _I_ think you should get back to New York.”

 _I’m already heading North_.

~*~

_Watch me._

Tony woke to the buzz of his phone. It wasn’t even dawn yet, the palest of colors peaked in over at the horizon.

“What?” Tony asked his bedroom. He had no idea if Steve was watching him, and when Steve messaged _Watch me_ for the second time, too much time had passed to know for sure if it was a reply.

His StarkPad was still in the nightstand at the side of his bed. He turned it on and waited. It was only when the glare of the screen illuminated the room, that Tony narrowed his eyes that he realized he had no idea where Steve was.

 _Where are you?_ he typed back into his phone.

 _Find me_.

He remembered the feeling from when they had successfully brought down the Chitauri side by side, and the challenge underneath it to bring down even more.

Steve had said taffy and boardwalk, he’d said Virginia Beach. There were a few routes from there to New York, but a limited number of ways into the island of Manhattan. He pulled up CCTV for them all. He knew Steve favored the bridge over the tunnel, he knew he was on a motorcycle, and that Steve would never text and drive. Tony limited his search to a handful of traffic light cameras and...There he was, stopped at a red light, looking down at his phone. A leather jacket was wrapped around his shoulders, and he looked even more gorgeous than Tony had remembered.

Tony watched as Steve flew over the bridge, jumping from camera to camera - bridge security, to construction site camera - the air rushing through Steve’s hair, and he was driving towards the center of Manhattan, to their team.

The cameras switched to storefront security and early morning traffic cams as the first commuters took to the street. He drove his motorcycle passed SHIELD, heading straight to the Tower, to Tony.

Once he was in the lobby, Tony scrambled from his bed because Steve had pressed the button for the workshop, not the penthouse. Tony’s heart was racing, and he was glad he’d worn his sexy pajamas - i.e. not the pants with Dum-E and U drawn all over them - because he didn’t have time to change, he didn’t want to leave Steve waiting one second longer than he had to.

When the elevator doors opened, Tony stumbled to a halt, allowing himself a moment to watch Steve through the glass wall of his workshop.

He was still wearing his leather jacket, though it’d been unzipped so that Tony could see the tight shirt underneath. In all the time he’d been watching Steve, he always knew that the workshop would bring him joy. Steve liked to observe, he liked to see new things and learn how they worked. Tony wanted to show him everything, all the upgrades he was making, the new weapons, the advancements to the quinjet - everything. But first he had to walk through the door.

“Tony!” Steve turned in surprise. “For some reason I thought you’d be down here. Good thing you were watching me.”

“You told me to. Seems like you weren’t watching me, or you’d know I was in bed when you messaged.” Steve dipped his head, looking slightly embarrassed, but Tony waved it away. “It’s early for the workshop.”

“Sure,” Steve agreed. “But you’re you. With your genius-workshop, in your billionaire-tower, not to mention your dozens of philanthropic donations I saw scattered across the East coast. From all of that, I assumed you’d be down in the workshop 24/7.”

“Well, you _are_ missing one aspect…”

Steve’s eyes widened. “Playboy.”

Tony couldn’t help his smirk, or the way he slid up against Steve’s side with his eyebrows dancing up and down. “You rang?”

“Oh, god. So you do live up to your own image. Congratulations.”

“Should I say something particularly playboy-y in reply? Like, ‘are you my prize?’”

Steve snorted. “Please, don’t.”

“You’d make an excellent prize.”

“I’m sure.” Sarcasm dripped from his words. “I’m so excellent you even stopped watching me.”

“That’s not why I stopped watching you.”

“Then why did you?” The slight tremor in Steve’s voice seemed out of place. He should’ve been happy Tony had stopped watching him, and yet it was apparent by the frown at the corner of his mouth that he was not.

Tony sighed, walking through the workshop with Steve trailing behind him. As they passed by Clint’s new arrows, and Bruce’s stretchable Hulk shorts, Tony pointed them out to Steve. The man seemed awed, but it was clouded by the question that hung between them. When they reached his wall of Iron Man armor, there was nothing left to show Steve, the only thing left to do was answer his question. “I don’t even know if this makes sense. But… It was fine, watching you before, when you were this stranger, this enigma I wanted to figure out. Now though…”

“I’m not an enigma?” Steve offered.

A broken noise from Tony, cut off by him rubbing his hand through his own hair, pulling at the strands in frustration. “No. You’re certainly still an enigma.”

“You are too, Tony.”

He sent Steve a small smile as he gathered his words. “Well, I guess I wanted you to _want_ me and the team in your life. But I wanted to be...invited in. Not to take, and learn, and figure out who you were without you even knowing, like a bystander or a stranger.”

Steve let out a breath, even though it was Tony’s vulnerability on the line. But they were a team now, and Steve met him halfway. “It was the same. With me watching you. I tried that one time but… I want you to know when my eyes are on you.”

“Yes,” Tony whispered. “Exactly.”

Tony knew Steve was going to have a smart-mouth comment before it even left his lips by the way his eyes danced in the dim workshop light. “So, is that the playboy part of you that likes to be watched? Or the genius?”

“It’s obviously the philanthropist. My gift to the world.” Steve barked out a laugh, and it made something flutter in Tony’s chest. “But if you stick around, you’ll be welcome to see all sides of me.”

“Is that an offer?”

“You’re here to stay aren’t you?”

“I go where my team needs me; I’m your Captain.”

“And what about where Steve Rogers is needed?”

Instead of answering, Steve asked, “What did you think about when you watched me?”

Tony hadn’t expected the question. He had no time to prepare an answer. “What?”

“When I watched you, all I wanted to do was help you here in the workshop. To be in the same room as you.”

“I watched you because I wanted to learn about the legend I was going to be working with. I continued watching because…”

“What?”

“Cause you’re...Addicting? Adorable? I don’t know the answer, but I’m pretty sure it begins with an A.”

“When I watched you, I wanted to be here.”

“And now you are.”

“Even when you were so frustrating and self-righteous--”

“You looking in the mirror?”

“--I still wanted to be back here.”

“That makes sense. We’re your team.”

Steve’s eyes narrowed, like he was assessing a Tony that was surrounded by endless questions. “Not the team. You.”

“Oh.” Tony felt the rush of blood warm his cheeks. “Same. I started watching you because of the team, but _that_ motivation lasted barely one spying session.”

“Did you…” Steve’s gaze dropped from Tony for the first time the whole conversation, and Tony missed it immediately. “Did you ever think about kissing me when you watched me?”

“Yes.” Tony held his breath, remembering every time he had watched Steve, how each time he yearned to be closer to the man. “I was stupidly jealous of Agent when he flew you to the helicarrier.”

Steve laughed but it was breathless. He stepped forward, and Steve was so close, Tony was still processing the blue of his eyes when he felt Steve’s fingers on his chin. “Agent?”

“Phil.”

“Oh.”

They were both quiet for a moment, remembering their fallen friend. Steve’s hand left his chin but they still remained close.

“Why?” Tony asked, trying to keep his tone flat. “Did you think about kissing me?”

“You had that screwdriver in your hand. You were twirling it, and at one point you pressed it against your lips and it was...a thought. That I had. That I kept having after.” With every word, Steve was leaning closer, the space between them disappearing. Tony’s eyes flicked down to Steve’s lips, and he watched when Steve said, “That was when I wanted to be here the most. So I could stop watching and do this instead.”

Never in Tony’s wildest dreams did he think watching Steve Rogers, would lead them here. The man was confident and sure, as he pressed their lips together. It was light and chaste, and Tony wasn’t ready for it to end when Steve pulled away.

“I always thought we’d work well together,” Tony whispered against Steve’s lips.

“Put on the suit.” Steve beamed. “Let’s go a few rounds.”

“My pleasure.”

“You’ll have to get JARVIS to record it, so we can watch later.”

“Captain!” Tony exclaimed, not even needing to exaggerate his surprise. Steve’s arm slid over Tony’s shoulder, and Tony didn’t know if it was the man’s presence, or his words, or both, that made Tony lean forward and kiss Steve again, just as quick as before. Tony pulled back and ran a hand through Steve’s hair. The caress made Steve shudder and pull Tony closer, close enough for him to bring his lips to Steve’s ear and whisper, “There’s nothing I’d like to watch more.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me on tumblr: [ashes0909](http://ashes0909.tumblr.com)!


End file.
